How to Create and Configure Marketing Channels in SalesExec

Marketing Channels in SalesExec help organizations categorize incoming leads by the type of marketing activity that generated them.

For example, businesses may generate leads through Paid Search, Organic Search, Affiliate Marketing, Direct Mail, or Third-Party Lead Providers.

By organizing leads into Marketing Channels, administrators can establish a consistent structure for tracking lead acquisition and analyzing marketing performance.

Marketing Channels also work alongside Lead Sources and Campaigns to provide more detailed attribution.

For example:

This structure helps organizations understand where leads originate and compare performance across marketing activities.

Navigation: More → Settings → Setup Marketing Channels, Lead Sources and Campaigns

SalesExec Marketing Channels allow administrators to:

This structure helps organizations understand where leads originate and compare performance across marketing activities.

Navigation: More → Settings → Setup Marketing Channels, Lead Sources and Campaigns
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This opens the administration screen where you can add and manage your organization's marketing attribution settings.

Screenshot: Navigating to Marketing Channels, Lead Sources and Campaigns.

Note: Selecting the correct owner is especially important. When the owner is the corporate level, all users within your organization can use them when manually adding leads. Set a branch owner if you wish for only those users under that branch, to have access. 

Step 2: Select Marketing Channels

At the top-right of the configuration screen, you can switch between:

Select Marketing Channels to view or manage your existing channels.

For example, if your organization purchases leads from third-party providers, select the channel type that corresponds to that acquisition method.

Enter a descriptive name for the Marketing Channel.

Examples include:

Choose names that your sales and marketing teams will recognize.

Important: SalesExec does not prevent administrators from creating Marketing Channels, Lead Sources, or Campaigns with duplicate names. Use unique, consistent names to avoid confusion and reporting inconsistencies.

Select the appropriate Owner for the Marketing Channel.

SalesExec supports ownership at the corporate and branch levels.

Corporate Ownership

When a Marketing Channel is owned at the corporate level, users throughout the organization can access it when manually adding leads.

This is useful for marketing programs shared across multiple locations or branches.

Branch Ownership

When a Marketing Channel is assigned to a specific branch, access is limited to users associated with that branch.

This is useful when individual branches operate their own marketing programs or need to maintain separate marketing configurations.

Example:

A pest control company operates branches in Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas.

If all branches use the same corporate paid search program, the organization may assign the channel to the corporate level.

If the Phoenix branch operates its own local direct mail campaign, the organization may assign the corresponding Marketing Channel to the Phoenix branch.

Why ownership matters: Selecting the appropriate owner helps ensure that users have access to the correct Marketing Channels when entering leads.

Save the new Marketing Channel after completing the required fields.

Return to the Marketing Channels list to confirm it appears as expected.

You can also use this screen to edit existing Marketing Channels.

Screenshot or animation: Adding a Marketing Channel and selecting its name and owner.

Once your Marketing Channel has been created, you can continue organizing your marketing attribution structure.

Lead Sources identify the specific provider, website, platform, or origin generating leads.

For example, within a Paid Search marketing category, your organization might track Google Ads as a Lead Source.

Campaigns identify specific marketing initiatives, such as a seasonal promotion, geographic advertising campaign, or product-specific lead generation effort.

For example, a campaign named Phoenix Pest Control – October can help distinguish leads generated by that initiative.

If leads are being delivered automatically from external providers, review the appropriate posting instructions to ensure incoming leads are associated with the intended marketing information.

This is especially important when setting up new lead providers or marketing integrations.

Keep Marketing Channels Broad

Use channels to represent major categories of marketing activity rather than individual advertisements or promotions.

For example, Paid Search is generally a better Marketing Channel name than Phoenix Google Ads October Campaign.

Use Lead Sources and Campaigns for more detailed attribution.

Use Consistent Naming Conventions

Agree on standard names across your organization.

Avoid creating multiple channels that represent the same acquisition method.

Choose Ownership Carefully

Use corporate ownership for shared marketing programs and branch ownership when marketing activities should be available only to a particular branch.

Avoid Unnecessary Channels

Create new channels only when they represent a meaningful marketing category.

Too many overlapping channels can make reporting and administration more difficult.

Coordinate with Your Marketing Team

Ensure the marketing and sales teams use the same definitions for channels, sources, and campaigns.

Review Your Configuration Periodically

Audit existing Marketing Channels to identify duplicate names, outdated categories, and ownership settings that need to be updated.

A Marketing Channel is a broad category used to organize leads based on how they were generated, such as Paid Search, Organic Search, or Third-Party Lead Providers.

A Marketing Channel identifies the general acquisition method, while a Lead Source identifies the specific provider or origin of the lead.

For example, Paid Search might be the Marketing Channel, while Google Ads is the Lead Source.

A Marketing Channel identifies the type of marketing activity. A Campaign identifies a specific marketing initiative.

For example, Paid Search could be the Marketing Channel, while Phoenix Pest Control – October is the Campaign.

Use corporate ownership when the channel should be available across your organization. Use branch ownership when the channel should be available only to users associated with a particular branch.

Yes. SalesExec allows duplicate Marketing Channel names, but unique naming is recommended to avoid confusion.

Yes. Administrators can manage existing Marketing Channels from the Marketing Channels, Lead Sources and Campaigns settings screen.

Consistent Marketing Channel configuration helps organizations track where leads originate, maintain cleaner marketing data, and analyze sales performance by acquisition method.